One month later...
Asuma led his team to complete their mission. On the way back, they happened to pass by Sunagakure, so he decided to let the team rest there for a while.
Besides, it would also give Shikamaru a chance to see his little girlfriend.
There was no helping it...
He knew all too well that Shikamaru disliked trouble.
The kid was always spouting things like 'Women are so troublesome' and the like.
Asuma figured that if things continued like this...
Sooner or later, he will be like the two white-haired guys in the village and be single for the rest of his life.
But who would've thought that during the last Chunin Exams, a girl had taken a liking to him?
Asuma could see the affection in her eyes at a glance, but Shikamaru, being a blockhead, hadn't shown any response.
To make sure his student didn't end up alone, Asuma had gone to great lengths.
"It's so troublesome!"
"Why can't we just go straight back to the village?"
Shikamaru trudged through the desert, feeling the harsh environment around him. He couldn't help but complain every few minutes, "We need to rest at some point!"
"Besides, I've never been to another village before."
Ino couldn't bear to watch it anymore. Right now, all she wanted was a proper place to stay and a hot bath.
"I just want to know if Sunagakure has anything good to eat."
What Choji always cares about is food. After being out on the mission for so long, he'd already run out of snacks.
For the past few days, he felt like he'd lost weight from hunger.
"What's so great about it?"
"Isn't it just a village built in the middle of a desert?"
Shikamaru had grown up reading the Nara clan's extensive collection of books about the Shinobi World.
Even though he'd never been to Sunagakure, he could still describe it in some detail.
Generally speaking, the village was barren and dirt-poor.
The fact that its people could survive in such a harsh environment was impressive enough, let alone expecting anything like decent living conditions.
Its military strength is also weaker than that of other Shinobi Villages.
Shikamaru had no interest in such a place at all.
He'd rather just push through and return to the village to rest.
"Besides, their food is terrible..."
"For example, scorpions, lizards, and the like."
"And the desert winds can peel your skin right off."
As soon as Shikamaru finished speaking, Choji turned his head and saw an ugly, crawling lizard. His stomach instantly churned and he felt like he had lost all his appetite.
Ino touched her dry, cracked skin, her face full of horror.
'No way!'
'If I continued to stay in this kind of place, I won't be able to get married!'
Ino and Choji looked at each other and then shouted to Asuma in front of them.
"Asuma-sensei!!"
"Let's just go back!"
Faced with his team's protests, Asuma did not make any comment. Instead, he pulled out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
After taking a deep drag, he spoke to the three of them, "Listen, you guys …"
"The life of a Shinobi is never comfortable."
"Compared to the Shinobi in Sunagakure, we in Konoha already have it pretty good."
"Besides... I'm doing all this for you, Shikamaru!"
Asuma first lectured them, and then began to lecture Shikamaru with a patient tone.
Finally, he thought of a yellow-haired kid in the village and continued speaking, "Oh, that's right."
"I heard that Naruto and Jiraiya-sama arrived in Sunagakure a month ago."
"Look at him!"
"If he can adapt to such a harsh environment, why are you all complaining so much?"
The moment Shikamaru heard the name of a certain yellow-haired guy, his face changed instantly.
If he was complaining a little just now...
Now, he really wanted to go back to the village!
'Judging from Naruto's track record...'
'Sunagakure was doomed!!'
"Fine…"
"Got it, Asuma-sensei."
Ino and Choji followed Asuma listlessly, completely unaware of the severity of the situation.
Just as Shikamaru was still pondering countermeasures, Asuma in front of him turned around and urged him, cigarette in his mouth.
"Shikamaru, what are you standing there for?"
"Who knows? You might even get an unexpected reward in Sunagakure."
"Hurry up and keep moving."
Asuma's eyes were ambiguous, and what he said was indeed correct.
After all, as long as Shikamaru handles things well, he will be able to find a wife in Sunagakure.
But right now, Shikamaru only cared about a certain yellow-haired guy who is always causing trouble.
The corner of his eye twitched as he looked at the three people in front of him. With a deep sigh, he shook his head and followed.
'Hopefully, Naruto hasn't caused too much trouble...'
After walking for most of the day, the group finally arrived at the outskirts of Sunagakure by nightfall.
The four of them then saw a scene that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The dilapidated village in Asuma's memory no longer existed. Instead, what stood before them was a massive, multi-legged puppet-like structure.
On its platform, colorful lights flickered wildly, disturbing the quiet night.
The four of them had never seen so many flashing lights in their lives.
All at once, no less.
Most importantly, written in huge characters across the body of the giant platform were three words: NEW SUNAGAKURE.
Asuma's jaw dropped and the unfinished cigarette fell to the ground.
"Th-this... this..."
"This is Sunagakure?!"
Ino and Choji raised their heads, equally shocked. They turned to look at Shikamaru with confusion in their eyes.
"Is this real??"
"Didn't you just say Sunagakure was super poor?"
"Why does this look more advanced than Konoha!?"
Shikamaru looked off into the distance, his pupils dilated twice as much.
'Damn it!!'
'What on earth did Naruto do in Sunagakure?!'
He covered his face and muttered helplessly, "Don't ask me!"
"I don't know anything!"
Ino rubbed her eyes and still couldn't believe what she saw. She looked at Asuma and said uncertainly, "Asuma-sensei..."
"Did we come to the wrong place?"
These words made Asuma doubt himself, and he immediately pulled out a map.
He murmured while flipping through the pages, "That's not right..."
"We didn't take a wrong turn!"
"This is Sunagakure!"
After double-checking multiple times, Asuma scratched his head, completely unable to understand what had happened in Sunagakure in the past month.
After a long silence, Asuma saw that the giant puppet-like village was about to move away, so he quickly urged his team to chase after it.
'Whatever was going on...'
'It would be a good idea to go there and collect some information to bring back.'
They ran for a full half hour before finally catching up to the massive puppet's feet.
But it would be more accurate to say that the puppet stopped on its own rather than them catching up.
As Shikamaru and the others got close to the puppet, they heard some noise.
"WASTE!!"
"I told you to check the parts multiple times!!"
"How did it break down again?"
"This is the sixth malfunction today!!"
Kankuro pointed at the group of Puppet Masters and cursed angrily.
He now looked very different from the muscular man he was a month ago.
It's not that he has lost weight, but this guy is finally not shirtless.
In fact, he was now wearing dozens of kilograms more gear than before.
Kankuro wore an eight-eyed helmet on his head, and these bulging lenses emitted an eerie red light in the pitch-black environment.
There was also a diamond-shaped armor on his chest, which covered his torso. If it weren't for the eight mechanical spider legs behind him, he might not have looked quite as bizarre.
As for Sunagakure's Puppet Masters nearby, they were slightly more normal-looking.
It's nothing more than an extra puppet heads, arms, and legs.
The Konoha's Shinobi nearby instantly froze in place when he saw these Sunagakure's people.
There was only one thought in their minds right now...
'Oh no!!'
'When did we get caught in a Genjutsu?!'